


The Chunin- Debacle

by LittleFallingStar (LittleDevil)



Series: Haruno and Sakura [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: And please for the love of everything thats holy and unholy leave a comment, BAMF Haruno Sakura, Byronic Heroes & Heroines, Gen, Haruno Sakura-centric, Hatake Kakashi is a Troll, Oro is still a creep, but honestly I think most people would turn out to be dicks with that backstory, but yeah he kinda is, chunin exams arc, gotta admit it, sasuke is a dick, still don´t like him very much, wow thats a tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-09
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2019-03-02 12:41:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13318332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleDevil/pseuds/LittleFallingStar
Summary: Second Installment of Haruno and SakuraSakura Haruno had a secret. It was a well-guarded secret too.She knew the truth. The truth about everyone she looked at. Neither the future, nor the past, just the truth at that exact moment. Their thoughts, their motivations, their fears and abilities. Whom they loved and hated. She saw them and knew their very soul.And she loathed what she saw. So they decided to take matters into their own hands.





	The Chunin- Debacle

**Author's Note:**

> All the thanks to my lovely beta reader Kori, who is always there if you need her and who beta read this 40 page monstrosity within 3 days  
> I love you! You´re the best
> 
> As before Bold is Haruno and Italics is Sakura

“So what about this one Sakura-chan?” Hinata suggested holding a bright red shirt in her hands. She had been excited when Sakura had asked her whether she'd like to go shopping together.

“I want to be stealthier, so red might not the right color, but I like the design!” Sakura grinned when she saw Hinata smile happily. She had gained more confidence in the last year, giving her opinion sometimes and not fainting anymore when Naruto talked to her. 

Sakura spotted a sleeveless lavender dress. It would work perfectly with the brown leather jacket Hinata was eying yearningly.

“I like this one, Hinata. It would suit your eyes. And with that jacket to your left...”

It was cute how Hinata nearly jumped at the mention of that jacket. She steeled herself and turned towards Sakura, shaking her head.

“I-I I´m not sure, Sakura-chan. This is supposed to be your shopping trip, you said you needed a new outfit for the chunin exams. I can come here another time and...”

“You're talking nonsense Hinata, we can both shop at the same time, and you know that. What is the problem?”

“I want to move out of the compound.”

Sakura had to do a double take. It took her about 5 seconds to process what Hinata had said. She hadn't expected this from Hinata this early.

“Wow, congratulations! But may I ask why now?”

Hinata looked down, embarrassed, and crossed her arms.

“I´ve been thinking about it for some time. Since my sister beat me I'm not the heiress anymore. I want to change that in the future, because I have plans. Right now, my lowered status plays into my hands, they won't be able to keep me from leaving and I need to leave the compound if I want to grow. I don't want to depend on my clan’s money or influence. If I make chunin in the exams, I would be able to move out right away but I'm not betting on that. My goal is to move into my own flat, and I'm saving up for that right now, so I can't buy new clothes.”

Sakura knew about that of course, having been informed by Haruno that Hinata was breaking away from her clan little by little. They had been pondering how to help Hinata with her struggle, but wanted her to tell them herself in her own time. And Hinata had come to her much sooner than expected.

“Have you thought about sharing a flat with someone, that would minimize costs, you know?” Sakura started, knowing exactly where she was going with it. Hinata immediately caught on. 

“Are you offering? I-I mean, I know that you and your parents have a rather frosty relationship, but I thought, that… didn't you say you didn't care?”

Smiling, Sakura stepped closer, putting the dress in Hinata's hands and nodding towards a changing room.

“Go on, roomie. Let's see if it fits. I need a present for you when you do exceptionally well at the chunin exams.”

“I would object, you know, if I didn't know that you use your parent´s wealth without reservation,” Hinata quipped and left her there quietly laughing to herself.

**I like the green one.**

_ I hate the green one. _

**I know, but it's stealthy. Look at it. The dark green is gonna cut our visibility. And get a black bandana while you´re at it. Our hair is too obvious.**

_ And here I am, distinctly remembering that you didn't want to go shopping with me and Hinata. _

**Uh. Yes?**

_ You're massively annoying, you know? _

**Thanks. You too.**

_ Are we asking Hinata to use the byakugan on us? _

**Tomorrow maybe. Although I want to know how obvious the seals are. I tried to paint them as small as possible but the Hyuga are probably gonna see them either way. Unless I find a way to cloak it from their eyes, I see little chance for our continued invisibility from the upper ranks.**

_ Do we need to be completely invisible? Even if they flag us as potentially hostile, there is no way we wouldn't know, and now we have a goal. A goal that requires us to defect at our earliest convenience anyway. It's not like they'd ever be able to know our complete skill set, because nobody, and I mean literally nobody, reckons there is two of us. In any case, we should ask her to take a look, maybe she could give you some help with the seals. I'm pretty sure actually that there are seals that bar the byakugan from looking through a surface, because otherwise life in the compound must be pretty uncomfortable. _

**Wow thank you Sa-chan, it's not like I see enough sex in other people’s thoughts or something. … Fine I'll ask her now.**

Still shaking their head, Haruno picked the leather jacket and walked over to the changing cabins to inspect how the dress fit Hinata.

“It's a little short, don't you think?”

Knowing Ino, just above the knee did not register as short to Haruno and Sakura.

“You could wear your trousers underneath? I think it's lovely. Here put this on… Perfect!”

Hinata looked at herself in the mirror and nodded.

“Hinata, I've been meaning to ask you…”, Haruno started, fidgeting with her hands, “whether you could use your eyes to look at me, because I was wondering whether my seals are obvious to someone with the byakugan.”

Hinata smiled and nodded.

“Sure, but let´s do that on the training ground, ok? It would be fairly noticeable if I did it here and now.”

_ Very good Ha-chan _ .

“It would be my pleasure. I found a scroll for lightning jutsu I want you to look at. It will be a good skill during the exams, nobody is going to expect to you to command lightning.”

Hinata was visibly confused.

“Lightning? Are you sure? I have no idea what my nature is. Also, there are plenty of clan jutsu I should learn… But I guess that you're probably right about this, as always. Nobody expects an elemental jutsu from a Hyuga, right?”

Haruno grinned through her teeth.

“Exactly.”

 

##  ________________________________

 

The chunin exams were impending and Haruno had taken up the habit to station a clone at the gates to look at the newcomers. Knowledge was power after all. And power was what she needed to help the being Zetsu. It was one of the reasons she trained in the morning with Maito Gai-Sensei now. Sakura and her had agreed that when Danzo already knew about them, it didn't matter anymore if she acted a little suspicious. Lethargic as Kakashi was, he had yet to pick up on it and Gai-Sensei had promised her not to tell him.

She had also improved the weight seal. Now the weight of it spread out evenly all over her body and all her muscles were trained in equal proportions. She was proud of herself. The scrolls on sealing she had access to in the library were all rudimentary. She still couldn’t just waltz into the jonin section, which proved to be a severe disadvantage in trying to unseal the scroll from the demon brothers. She came back to it every now and then, just like her and Sakura reread the scrolls of their ancestors habitually, but so far nothing had come of it.

As for their ancestors’ scrolls, Sakura had first suspected that they were written in code and after some research Haruno had to agree, but they were still unable to decode them.

It was only thanks to the ravens who brought her scrolls on numerous subjects every now and then in exchange for information and treats, that she had finally found a way to put compressed seals on her body. Not only had it taken her months of study, but each seal took a good chunk of chakra to create, especially the storage seals.

Nobody, apart from a few Hyuga maybe, had noticed that. Somehow nobody was expecting anything from Sakura Haruno, the civilian girl. Everything she accomplished, that was remotely competent, resulted in surprised eyebrow lifting. Apart from the Hokage and a few other individuals, nobody even suspected she had hidden talents. 

While Haruno had recognized this to be an advantage, Sakura was sulking. She would have liked a little more acknowledgement. Especially since they weren't even putting that much effort into seeming incompetent anymore. But nobody really noticed. Even so, they agreed that it was better for them in the long run if everybody underestimated them.

_ I still don't have to like it. _

**It's certainly easier like that, rather than being hailed a genius or something.**

______________________________________________________-

Three days before the exams Sabaku no Gaara entered the village with his two siblings and a Jounin sensei. Another lonely broken boy on the verge of insanity. His siblings were scared shitless. They knew what would happen if he lost control.

He too, was a Jinjuriki, just like Naruto, but his seal was weaker, cruder in execution. She could see the ill intent of Shukaku spilling through the seal on his stomach. Haruno, even if she had only ever seen Naruto's seal, was sure that given some more time to study it and a few more reference texts, she would have been able to improve the seal. Of course there wouldn't be any opportunity to do that, but a girl could dream.

They were planning to attack Konoha during the exams with the help of Orochimaru. Their primary objective was to kill as many as possible.

Haruno was appalled mainly. She expected this from humans by now. At first she decided to do nothing about it, but when Orochimaru entered the village and his plan to get a hold of Sasuke and by extension, his Sharingan, her resolution began to crack. It didn't help that Sakura nagged at her in the back of their mind.

Orochimaru plans to kill the Hokage.  _ Crack. _

He's going to destroy all of the village if he can. _ Crack. _

Our friends may die because of this.  **_Crack._ **

But then a young girl, Uzumaki Karin, was dragged into the village behind Orochimaru and Haruno snapped. The clone dissolved.

The information came to her original during a rather unfortunate time.

It was midday and they were currently training to lie still on the river under the red bridge, where their team met, while simultaneously widening their reserve and trying to sense the world around them. It was easier than it sounded considering Haruno let Sakura concentrate on the water lying while she circulated the rest of their chakra. It was good for Haruno to know that she could trust Sakura. That she could rely on her abilities. They had started to communicate with each other more often after the wave debacle. 

Naruto and Sasuke were trying to water walk and nearly succeeding.

It was a really inconvenient moment. 

They didn't even fall into the water. That would not have been a problem. They were already soaked. No. Haruno exploded the water around her in her sheer anger and disappointment. Sakura flinched and disappeared to the back of their mind. Their clothes hung in rags on their body, barely covering it. If the boys had looked closely, they would have seen the weight seal on her stomach.

“Woah, Sakura, everything ok? Is there something I can do to, uhm, help? Do you want my jacket? “ Naruto asked when he reached her.

She had already steadied herself on the water and was marching in angry strides towards the bank.

"I´m fine. Don´t worry Naruto, Sasuke. I'll be back, I'll just get changed at home. “

 

With that she left them flabbergasted on the shore. She couldn’t sense anything, but she was positive there were Anbu following her now. But even if she couldn't feel them, she was convinced there had to be at least some. Her chakra had spiked unnaturally and the wet remains of her dress clung to her body while she angrily marched through the street of Konoha three days before the chunin exams. It would have been a grave oversight if they hadn´t checked on her.

When she entered her home and her mother greeted her stiffly, Haruno ignored her. She walked up into her room, screamed into her pillow, got rid of her rags and showered. After that she put on some training garb and closed her door firmly. There were always special preparations to make when she summoned a raven to make sure nobody knew they were her summons. 

She closed the blinds and activated the soundproof and aura suppression seal on in her bookshelf. Then she bit her thumb and hit the ground.

"Haruno. How can I be of assistance today? “

A small black raven appeared in front of her, inclined his head towards her and adopted an attentive pose.

"Hugin, I need you to fly to the Hokage's office and relay the following message to the Hokage and only   him.

Orochimaru is in the village. He plans to attack with his Suna allies during the Chunin Exams. He also plans to kill the Hokage. Further information indicates he will try to steal the Sharingan by baiting Uchiha Sasuke with power. Sabaku no Gaara is the one-tails Jinjuriki. The Sandaime Kazekage is dead and one of Orochimaru's minions is posing for him. Karin Uzumaki is being mistreated and used by Orochimaru, he will try to experiment on her after the chunin exams. Help her. End of message. “

The old raven nodded in understanding.

"This information is also good payment. You will not need to pay anything else for my service this time. Is there anything else? “

"Yes. There is something else. I need one or two of you to follow Orochimaru. He is disguised as a Kusagakure Jounin sensei. Report any suspicious movement to me, please. Apart from that, do not let the Hokage know this message comes from me. As always, I trust your secrecy, Hugin. “

"As you wish Haruno. I will take my leave now. “

With that the raven disappeared in puff of smoke. Haruno leaned back on her feet and massaged her temples. There was no way this wouldn't bite them in the ass. She was just glad that she had read up on interrogation techniques (namely torture) and how to avoid feeling the pain. It wouldn't save her from the Yamanaka´s jutsu but at least she was prepared for the other things.

Her sudden outburst under the bridge had left her weary. She could feel a solid headache building behind their skull. Sakura finally dared to leave her hiding place and gingerly asked her whether she was ok.

**It´s ok Sa-chan. I'm fine, it's just… this will have repercussions for us. Even if we hadn't taken action, there will be consequences and I'm sure we won't like them.**

_ Shall I take over for today and you rest?  _

**No, thank you. I can't rest now. I need to send a new clone to the gate and make sure we don't overlook anything. It's sweet of you to offer though.**

_ Tell me, if you need anything Ha-chan I'll gladly help. I might not see everything you do, but your goal is my goal. _

**Thank you. I will. I just need a few minutes.**

_________________________________________________________

They arrived on training ground 3 in the early afternoon. It would have had taken her only 20 minutes to her house and back, but after summoning Hugin they had taken half an hour to calm down. So when they arrived at the bridge Naruto and Sasuke were already gone, which meant Kakashi had appeared during her absence. Haruno had given Sakura reign over their body once again and Sakura liked to play it dramatic.

"Ah Kakashi-sensei! I´m sooo sorry. There was something I had to do at home, so I ran there. I´m so sorry it took me so long!!!!“

He had quipped his visible eyebrow but said nothing about it. It wasn't like he missed her chakra slipping. Ever since their C-rank he had shadowed her every now and then, having been instructed to do so by the Hokage, but also because of his own interest. So far he hadn't been able to spot interesting behavior, which Haruno was really smug about, since they didn't really try to hide it anymore. Although in her pettiness Haruno sent Kakashi on a merry chase after a shadow clone every morning. It was a great source of amusement to her.

Their boys were already sparring with each other and they stood awkwardly next to Kakashi and watched. Haruno was proud how much Naruto had improved. She was sure he would one day achieve his dream to become Hokage. Not that it would matter, though. They would all be trapped in an eternal genjutsu and all their dreams would come true anyway. Sakura didn't like that train of thought too much and she let their shoulders sag, which Kakashi detected.

"What's the matter Sakura-chan? “

Sakura, bless her, was a fantastic liar.

"Oh, it's just, Sensei, I don't feel like I can keep up with my teammates. “

He believed her. Haruno snickered inwardly. He was underestimating them, just like they planned.

**You're awesome, Sa-chan.**

_ I know, Ha-chan. I'm an extraordinary actor. _

"You are yourself, Sakura-chan. You don't have to be like your teammates. “

(Of course you are weaker. Naruto is host to a monster and Sasuke is a monster created by years of Uchiha incest. Nobody expects you to succeed with this team. I'm not even sure what Sarutobi sees in you.)

Haruno ignored it. She knew he wasn't expecting her to be strong. Sakura, however, was slightly affronted. Even with their misdirection in place, Kakashi should have noticed that her muscles were more defined or that her chakra had increased significantly.

“So, are we going to participate in the Chunin exams Sensei?”

They knew they were. Kakashi had been briefed by the Hokage already about the mysterious message he had received. They were on high alert but nobody could figure out who sent that message since the only known person to have raven summons was Uchiha Itachi. And nobody except for the Hokage, the elders, the toad sage and Haruno Sakura would ever know, that Itachi had acted on orders that night.

“Ne, Sakura-chan, how come you know about it? Did you have a run in with foreign ninja, too?”

“No, but unlike some others I like to be informed.”

“I see.”

(I didn't think you had the brains for that. I thought you were just book smart?)

 

##  _______________________________-

  
  


Haruno and Sakura agreed that letting Team Seven participate in the exam was a very bad idea. Nevertheless, they turned up well rested three days later at the academy, ready to kick ass. They had kept the obvious red qipao but underneath it they wore tight black pants and a long-sleeved black shirt, a braid visible on their shoulder. The weight seal was still on their stomach but some more seals had accumulated all over their body. Some of them were storage seals, in one were a few bandages and high-percentage alcohol, one held three blankets and extra clothing and they even had one with food and water underneath their knee pad. The one with weapons was on their right wrist hidden by a bandage. They were prepared.

Naruto and Sasuke however, were painfully unprepared. Due to her foreseeing this she had packed emergency backpacks for both the boys filled with everything they might need during the practical test.

The boys waited for them at the door and together they walked up the stairs towards the written exam. Haruno could feel the genjutsu before she could even see it.

**I'm taking over for a while.**

Since her approach to such things was to ignore them, she grabbed Naruto and Sasuke by their shoulders and nodded towards the sign on the door.

“Just follow me.”

Having procured her teammates´ attention, she continued up the stairs ignoring Kotetsu and Izumo´s genjutsu as well as their query as to where they were heading.

Kakashi was waiting for them in the exam room and revealed to Naruto and Sasuke, that they all needed to show up as to participate as a team. She inwardly rolled her eyes at them.

_ Ha-chan. They are not stupid just because they fall for Kakashi-sensei. He is nearly as good at lying as me. _

**I know, I should know better. But this farce of an exam is grating on my nerves.**

_ We are well prepared. There is literally nothing that can surprise us. There are two silence seals on us. Another one that suppresses the presence of our chakra and one that stores some extra chakra should we run low. And we have sealing tint in the storage on our elbow. The only ones who are able to see all the seals are Hinata and her cousin. _

**I´m not happy with that and you know it. And the chakra storage is a far cry from the yin seal. I still need to work on it.**

“Neee, Sakura-chan, are you listening?”

Both their attention turned back to the room.

“I'm sorry, Kakashi-sensei, I must have spaced out.”

“I just wished you good luck.” (I know, you'll need it.)

“Thank you.”

She turned away and walked towards the desk to finish her registration. On the way there, she noticed Kabuto Yakushi. Another sleeper of Orochimaru, but by far the most skillful one. Haruno was getting really sick of it.

__________________________________________

The exam began and they were appalled. The questions were so unbelievably easy. It was ridiculous. Sakura solved the whole thing on her own, Haruno didn't help at all. They were done in under 20 minutes and then just waited. It annoyed them greatly that they couldn't summon Hugin to get him to deliver a full list of Orochimaru's operatives to the Hokage. But all that would have to wait until they were in the forest of death and out of everyone's sight.

Halfway through the exam they blocked Ino´s sudden attempt to invade their mind with relative ease and it surprised them. Behind them the could hear Ino moan in distress. It must have been painful for her jutsu to end so rapidly.

**How did we do that?**

_ I don't know. _

**She was in our mind space and you kicked her out Sa-chan. Before she could see anything.**

_ I guess. I still have no idea what I did. I know what you´re thinking. You want me to train so that when someone proficient in this technique tries to interrogate us they won't come in. _

**Yes.**

_ We could reconcile with Ino, that crush on Sasuke is really annoying you know. I really hate playing that, and I'm not sure if it really works in our favor. He despises us when we're in fangirl mode. _

**You're right, you can tone it down. But slowly. Sasuke is still suspicious of us. He knows that we're better and smarter than we let on. It makes him furious.**

_ Ok, got it Ha-chan. _

A giant ruckus pulled her out of her thoughts when Ibiki Morino announced the last question of the test.

**We really need to stop spacing out like this.**

“I´m never gonna back down. One day I'm gonna be Hokage, believe it!

Everybody except maybe for Hinata rolled their eyes but before any of the proctors could say anything Sakura quietly cut in.

“Naruto. Sit down.”

It had the desired effect. Naruto immediately sat down, excused himself for causing a commotion and chanced a look towards them to check whether he had understood them correctly.

They nodded once and then returned their attention back to Morino who had watched the exchange with something akin to wonder on his face. He had dealt with Naruto during his rascal days in the academy more than once.

Then the exams proceeded. Mitarashi Anko, a special jounin, who was still frowned upon by the elders because she had been Orochimaru's pupil, emerged through a window and ordered them to the forest of death.

The name was earned, Haruno supposed.

___________________________________________________________________________

 

Their first day on training ground 44 ended without any major disturbances, unlike the nickname had suggested. They had decided to make haste and lurk close to the tower where they would try to lure other teams into one of Naruto´s infamous trapped areas. Sakura had sensed someone in the distance, but they didn't meet any of the other teams.

So far their plan had worked out fantastically. Their camp was only two miles from the tower in the middle of the forest. They hid in the center of the trapped area underneath a giant root. All three of them had agreed that a fire was a bad idea. None of them had brought bedrolls or food and since Haruno and Sakura agreed that the goods inside the seals would only be used in case of emergency, Sakura collected a few berries she knew to be edible. They concealed their camp as well as possible and then they just waited. 

Nothing happened, night came and Haruno took over. She ordered the boys to sleep, telling them that she'd take care of the first watch. After all, she had some messages to send and some clothing changes to make. The later one was done easily. She ripped the red qipao off and put it in a storage seal.

_ It's a shame, red really is our colour. _

**Yes, maybe. But not in the middle of the fucking forest.**

The second one was a little trickier. Haruno activated the silence seals on her shoulders and the aura suppression one. Then she summoned Hugin.

“Sakura-san. What can I do for you?”

A great white raven towered in front of them. They had talked to her the first time they summoned a raven. She was their leader. The oldest and wisest raven of them all. She had even known their great- great-grandfather.

“Fureya-sama. I didn't expect you to answer my call. Is something the matter?”

“I have a favor to ask for. But before that, what can I do for you?”

Haruno waved a small scroll in her hand.

“This is a list of Orochimaru´s associates. I need you to bring it to the Hokage without him suspecting it's me who sent it. I've set up precautions, to make sure this conversation stays a secret.”

“I understand. I will send one of the smaller ones to accomplish this task.”

With that she waved over the scroll in Haruno´s hands and it was gone.

“Thank you Fureya-sama. What can I do for you in return? It must be something important.”

The great raven looked at her intently before bowing her head once in agreement.

“The other contractor. Uchiha Itachi is in need of a doctor. We worry about him. He is a friend of ours. Can you think of a way to help him?”

“I'm not a doctor, Fureya-sama, nor a healer. I only ever read through some scrolls and books. I know there isn't someone else you can think of, but I'm sure I wouldn't be able to do anything right now.”

The great raven nodded.

“I know that, little Blossom. The problem is that he won´t go  see a doctor. It is in the early stages and I personally requested that he go see a doctor, but he refuses. If he continues like that he will die in a few years. We care for him and won't let that happen. So the favour I´m asking for…”

“You want me to learn medical jutsu and save his life and possibly his eyes.”

“Yes. We would of course provide you with all the forbidden and lost knowledge you require for this task. I know that you intend to leave this village behind, sooner or later and if I may say so, nobody looks for corpses or even better, nobody puts bounties on their heads, so if you were to fake your death by using your then obtained knowledge …”

“I understand. I have to admit Fureya-sama, it isn´t a favor as immense as it seemed at first. I was considering learning medical jutsu before. It requires perfect chakra control, which I´ve been told, I have. The occasion simply hasn’t occurred yet.”

“Then I suppose we have a deal.”

“We, do.”

Haruno bowed and so did they great raven.

“Goodbye, Sakura-san. May we meet again soon.”

“Goodbye Fureya-sama.”

___________________________________________________________________________

 

It was raining the next day. Naruto had woken them before dawn, just as instructed. They were cold and miserable. The absence of a warming fire had taken a toll on all of them and the appearance of a huge tiger during their sparse berry breakfast had done nothing to remedy their brooding. Haruno especially was annoyed that she couldn't just open her storage seals and get them all decent food, but Sakura insisted, and she wasn't completely wrong about it either, that normal 13 year olds didn't have small improved storage seals all over their body. The sudden disappearance of her red qipao was enough to make Sasuke suspicious. Naruto didn't even notice. 

As per habit she created a clone and sent it to hide in the undergrowth. 

_ The fight with the tiger will lure opponents to us. Naruto´s lack of control made his chakra spike like a flare.  _

Naruto and Sasuke were buzzing with excitement, both of them hoping to prove themselves. Naruto in the eyes of the village and Sasuke to himself.

**Or Orochimaru.**

_ Way to kill the mood. _

In the end, nobody came and it was midday when Naruto left camp to scout the area and maybe draw other competitors in their direction. 

“Make them believe you are the only one left and have the scroll, ok?”

“Got it, Sakura-chan. I won't let you down. “

“Hn.”

They both turned around to look at Sasuke who eyed them with distaste. 

“If Sakura had used her talent in genjutsu better, she could have disguised a twig and some leaves to look like a scroll. Then you could lure them here more effectively.”

_ Now that I think about it, why haven't we thought of this earlier? We could have hidden our camp better, we could make us appear less suspicious, for kami´s sake we could have lived a much easier life! _

**I don't know... it never occurred to me. They never felt useful because I see through them even before they are cast. How did I overlook this?**

_ Don´t worry you weren't the only one. _

**I should have realized it. Even Sasuke has.**

“Oi Idiot, Sakura-chan is really good in dismantling genjutsu, don't you look down on her.”

“Hmn.”

________________________________________________________________

Haruno´s mood didn't improve, especially when half an hour after Naruto headed out, Orochimaru was upon them in the guise of him.

Orochimaru, not trying particularly hard to play his role, recited the password they had agreed on before Naruto left perfectly.

“Imposter. Where is Naruto?” Sasuke, bless his idiotic heart, asked in his complete cluelessness.

_ Take over, I swear to Kami, Ha-chan, if you don't take over right now I'm gonna cry. _

**Got it. Don´t worry. If all else fails I can still call Fureya-sama.**

_ You know that you act too cocky, Ha-chan. You will get us killed. _

“Why would you think it's not me?”

Haruno had never been of the particularly patient kind. It was always Sakura who nagged her about keeping it together and not destroying the perfectly useless image she had created. Sakura was however not in the mood for nagging right now, rather she clawed into Haruno´s conscience, begging her to do something for Kami's sake. Haruno slipped into a fighting stance, one she had learned from Gai-sensei and released the weight seal with a sign.

“Quit playing, Orochimaru.”

Sasuke shot her a short look as if to ask what the fuck she was talking about, but an evil smile spread over Naruchimaru's lips. It didn't suit him at all. Fortunately, Orochimaru ended his henge there and then, and curtesy of her already calling him by name he ripped the fake skin of the woman´s face he wore off. His reptilian eyes never left her.

“Very well child. Now I´m interested. How do you know about me?”

_ Abort mission. Abort mission!!!! Now he is interested in US. Run for our life! _

He was faster than she had anticipated. In the bat of an eye he was standing in front of her, in all his evil glory, the entirety of his attention seemingly fixated on her. She and her clone both knew it wasn't true, nevertheless she gave it the order to duplicate and collect Sasuke and Naruto and flee.

“I´m not telling you, old man. I´m just not interested in your games. Now quit playing, and state what you came here for.”

Haruno´s voice never wavered. She saw that it amused him that she seemed to feel no fear in a moment of near possible death and it intrigued him. He wasn't sure if she was stupid, brave, suicidal, or simply overestimating herself by leagues. And he so wanted to play a little longer. His killing intent intensified, and Sasuke who had previously listened to them intently, froze. His stare glazed over in undiluted panic.

“Now, now. No need to be rude. Tell me, Sakura-chan, how did you know it was me?”

Lie. Lie your ass off. Tell him it was the fucking snakes – they are all around him. Tell him you heard a jonin say it. Tell him anything but the truth!!! Come on Haruno!

“And how would you know my name?”

He had of course seen her file. He had seen every participant's file to find out if there was someone worth taking besides Sasuke. In his mind, she had been useless, until now.

**No. I need to keep him interested. Play for time. Our clone has Naruto, and we nearly got Sasuke too. Our only chance is to run.**

_ Sweet Kami. I know you THINK, you know what you're doing. And I hope you're right. _

“Tz tz tz, Sakura-chan. I asked first. Besides don't you think someone like me has read up on every possible new asset?”

_ Oh, come on, you ass-crawling snake-fucking shit. I made sure our file was below average! Don't you try to say you were interested when you know exactly that our file is beyond disappointing, because I know it too and I worked hard for it! _

Haruno smirked. This time she didn't bother to hide it. Then she let out a full-blown laugh.

_ Wow, only Ino and Naruto made you do that before. You must find him awfully amusing. _

**He was thinking his attempt was fruitful, that I was stupid enough to believe he was interested from the start. As if that was a compliment for us.**

“You are a terrible liar. My file is below average. Nobody in his right mind would think of me as a promising new asset. Now state your purpose, Orochimaru, or get lost.”

A tiny vein throbbed on his forehead and she knew she was running out of time. Luckily for her, her clone chose that moment to snatch away Sasuke and run off full speed in the direction of the tower. In the same moment she moved their body out of the way. Not a second too early. Where she had been milliseconds before was now a huge snake summon now. Haruno ran, her gamble had worked out so far.

_ LEFT! _

**Got it.**

Following Sakura´s “advice” Haruno flipped to the left, just in time to dodge a volley of kunai aimed at her legs.

“Now, come Sakura-chan, don't you want to stay for the fun?”

“Not exactly!” she pressed out before she dodged another of his volleys, only to be caught by one of his summons. The constrictor wrapped around her too fast to react.

“FUCK!”

Haruno wasn´t one to cry. Not usually. Sakura cried for them from time to time, as to appear normal, but Haruno had not cried a single tear beside the one time she had seen Danzo. But now tears escaped her as the constrictor wrapped itself tighter and tighter around her. A scream of anguish tore through the forest.

It hadn´t been her.

__________________________________________________________________________

Sasuke had managed to free himself from Orochimaru´s killing intent in the end by cutting himself with a kunai. He was just in time too, since Haruno´s clone, groaning in pain, puffed out of existence shortly after that. The clone that carried Naruto was on the ground when it happened and the small fall woke him.

Haruno craned her neck as far as she could to see what was going on. There wasn´t much she could do now. Orochimaru had ordered the snake to not kill her, yet. So, she hung suspended 5 meters above the ground. If she could wriggle her hands together to form some seals, maybe she could escape.

_ Or maybe you could use your fucking brain. What did we train our chakra pathways for, huh? If you expel enough chakra and make it as sharp as you can, the snake might let go of you.  _

**What would I do without you?**

_ Get eaten by snakes apparently. _

Haruno, did as she was told by Sakura and nearly regretted it instantly.

The snake, just like the water 4 days earlier, exploded with a gigantic boom.

When she landed on she was hardly able to suppress retching all over the forest floor and wiggling snake parts. It didn't help that she was nearly naked, again.

_ Holy fuck. I didn't see that coming. It's really gross. I'd have puked. I mean the smell alone... _

**Shut up - there is no time Sa-chan!**

_ 40 meters to our right. _

**Thanks.**

Haruno sprinted as fast as she could in her team’s direction.

“Too late Sakura-chan,” Orochimaru chirped as he gleefully thrust a hand into Naruto´s abdomen. Naruto sagged together as the seal on his belly glowed ominously. She attacked him then - or tried to at least.

But there was no chance for her at all.

_ Yet. _

**Yet.**

"Maybe I should give you a curse mark too, Sakura-chan? It would fit perfectly between the rest of your artwork."

He cocked an eyebrow, eying the numerous seals covering her body. It surprised him more than he liked. Not even the death of his snake had surprised him quite as much.

"No. Thank you,” she huffed during her attack, but he blocked the blow to his head with ease.

"I'd rather not." She dodged a kick to her hip only barely by skidding to the side. 

_ You could always use the extra chakra from the seal on our back. _

"Ha ha ha."

**Actually, that's a good idea!**

It irritated her to no end that he was enjoying this so thoroughly. When she sidestepped another blow, just getting ready to release the seal, Sasuke entered their fight from the treetops.

"I'm not gonna let you fight him alone. He is one of the 3 sannin. Only an idiot would try to fight him alone. Especially half naked."

The squealing he had expected at his quip never came. Instead Haruno shifted into a different fighting stance and released the chakra that was stored in her back. She had forty minutes until it was to be used up but the fight lasting that long seemed highly improbable. As for Sasuke, he was right of course. She shouldn't fight Orochimaru alone. It didn’t matter that Orochimaru was only humoring them and holding back. The thought crossed her mind, that if she was to train with him, she would improve greatly.

_ I feel nauseated please never think that again Ha-chan. I can't literally not think of a worse idea.  _

**It just crossed my mind, ok? There are too many unknown factors. I wouldn't do it, ok?**

Orochimaru however was thrilled. He smirked and sent a volley of snake summons towards her, forcing her to retreat to a high branch some meters away. Now that he thought she was out of reach, it gave him the perfect opportunity to plant the cursed seal on Sasuke, who was currently sending a fireball his way.

_ There was no way to avoid this, am I right? _

**No. He was done for as soon as Orochimaru spotted us. It´s over- We lost.**

"Oh Sasuke, how good of you to join the fight again. I so wanted to give you a parting gift.”

And with that Orochimaru's neck stretched to a ridiculous degree and tried to bite Sasuke in his neck. 

” If you want to kill your brother, if you want power, come to me." 

Making a last desperate attempt she already knew was going to fail, Haruno lunged between them, Sakura pumping extra chakra to their muscles, and caught Orochimaru´s head not even a millisecond too early. 

Utterly surprised by having intercepted him she watched in horror as he  bit her instead only to free himself again. 

“You could just have said so from the beginning Sakura-chan. I would gladly have given you this little present too, you didn't have to act so coy!” Orochimaru purred into her ear as the pain surged throughout her body, his foreign chakra invading each and every cell and the seal forming on her neck. She couldn't move anymore, every part, every capacity that she and Sakura had, fought against the seal.

Shortly after that he planted the seal on Sasuke, who screamed and broke down in pain.

“Watch over him for me Sakura-chan. And feel free to follow him, when he comes to me. I could use someone with your abilities.”

“Never. I'm not stupid. You may keep your monsters, but you won't have me.”

He laughed heartily. She could see Naruto lying on the side, Sasuke cramping not far from her and she herself was trying her best not to succumb to the seal’s evil chakra. It took all of her and Sakura´s combined will to force it back into her neck and seal it in a counter seal so she wouldn't lose conscience too. Still she was only buying herself time. In a few minutes the chakra she used to hold the seal would run out and she would once again be consumed by the heat and pain. But until then she needed to get them to safety.

"We´ll see. I can remove that for you, if you come. I wouldn't try it myself if I were you, unless you want to die, that is. Toodles.”

And with a strong blow of wind he was gone.

_ Asshole. _

**Basically.**

_ There is not much time left. I have only a faint idea how your seal works and I can't hold it much longer.  _

**I know.**

_ Hurry then!  _

**… Moving this body is currently a little more difficult than usually Sa-chan.**

With enormous difficulty, they maneuvered their body towards Sasuke who had already lost conscious and picked him up. Then they walked over to Naruto, grabbed his collar and dragged him with them.

They only made it to the next clearing, half a mile from where the battle ended before Haruno could feel her energy fading.

_ Quick! I can't stop it anymore. _

Panting she hid the boys beneath a root covering them with leaves and small branches as fast as she could.

Then she bit her thumb, pouring the last of her chakra inside.

“Watch over us please,”, was all she pressed out when Munin appeared only to lose consciousness directly after that. 

________________________________________________

“Sakura-chan are you ok?”

Haruno blinked and she could have sworn the silhouette above her looked like Hinata.

“Am I dead already?”

Hinata chuckled softly and shook her head. 

“Shino said you were in trouble. What happened? You were all unconscious when we arrived. There is a huge snake carcass about a mile from here. Are you ok?”

**Who is here? Who is in our general vicinity? Whom can you feel?**

_ Hinata. Shino, Kiba. Naruto is still out of it. Sasuke, he is mixed with Orochimaru’s chakra. I'm afraid he's gone too far. Ino, Shikamaru and Choji in the bushes, 300 meters north-north east from us. Neji Lee and Tenten are moving away from us. There are three almost corpses. Oto nin judging by chakra but I'm not entirely sure. They're minutes away from death. _

Satisfied for the moment Haruno blinked once more and focused on Hinata's face.

“I´m fine. The sannin Orochimaru attacked us. That snake was his. How is my team?”

“Ok, for the moment. Sasuke-kun seems a little … different. I´d be careful.”

“What happened?”

Haruno already knew what happened. And it wasn´t good by any means.

“When we arrived you were already unconscious. You lay completely in the open, it was very unsettling. Shortly after us the team from Oto arrived. They weren't interested in us, just said they wanted to kill Sasuke-kun. Kiba and Shino fought them. For some reason Neji and his team arrived here too. Lee-kun is amazing. He single handedly punched that one guy through a tree. But then Sasuke-kun woke up and he… he … I think he lost control. Anyway now they're as good as dead. I think he was embarrassed because he gave us their scroll.”

Haruno tried to get up, groaning since the seal in her neck stung rather unpleasantly.

“That's bad. I´m not sure whether I shouldn't just stop the exams for my team right here. They would be disappointed but it would be less dangerous. Orochimaru is interested in Sasuke, you see?”

“Don´t. I mean it, don't. It´s not your decision whether they should get themselves in danger. It´s theirs.”

Haruno had to smile at that. It wasn´t the first time Hinata had spoken out, and it wouldn't be the last time. But she was right in any case.

“Ok, I won't, promise.”

While Hinata helped her up, Shino, who had previously examined the corpses, walked over to them. He was worried about their health but most of all he was antsy that whoever had attacked previously might come back to finish the job.

“Hinata, we should get going. The tower isn't far.” 

Then he inclined his head towards Haruno. “Sakura-san.”

“Shino-kun. Take care.”

With that Shino took to the trees. Kiba was already waiting for him there. Hinata hugged Haruno and turned away, only to look back over her shoulder, her face worried.

“You should make use of whatever is in your seals. I´m sure everyone saw them, which means they won't be a secret much longer anyway. Use everything in your arsenal Sakura. There are some pretty fucked up people competing. You'll need it to survive. I´ll see you at the tower.”

That being said, she joined her teammates in the trees and they left.

_ Well, if you ask me, we're fucked. _

**Yup, I know. Give me an update on our surroundings.**

_ Naruto is awake now. He is sitting south from here. Sasuke broods on a tree 20 meters across the clearing. Team 8 and 10 are both leaving. Team Guy has already reached the tower. There are two teams headed in our general direction. They probably felt the fight. We have approximately an hour before they arrive.  _

**Will they be a problem?**

_ Hahaha, no. They're already weakened somehow. Either someone got their scroll already or they had problems with the wildlife.  _

**Good. I'll deal with them. You can rest if you want.**

_ No, not yet. When we're at the tower. Right now I wanna make sure we're not gonna get ambushed by surprise.  _

**Makes sense.**

“Sakura-chan are you ok?”

Naruto walked up to them, worry evident on his face. He was still hurting and the seal on his belly still scrambled. He stopped when he saw their half naked form, covered in seals.

“Sakura-chan… what?”

“I´m fine, Naruto. Come here, I have something for you, since you don't have any weapons left.”

Haruno placed a hand on her right hip bone and released the seal holding the survival pack for Naruto. She had one for both boys but in Naruto's was more food, while Sasuke´s had more kunai.

“I packed you and Sasuke both a pack. Go through it and tell me if you need something else, there is a good chance I have it.”

Naruto reluctantly grabbed his pack and opened it. While his expression had been confused, scared and worried just mere seconds before it changed when he looked at everything she had packed for him to a confident grin.

“Woah Sakura-chan you're amazing. You packed all this by yourself? We can get a scroll with all of this, we can get all the scrolls! They won't even know what hit them, believe it! And you got me ramen protein bars, AWESOME!” 

“I glad you're happy with it. If you don't mind I'm gonna change now.”

Tapping her right wrist, she summoned the two sets of spare clothing into her hands, her red qipao among them.

“Oh that is where it went, I thought you had lost it.”

Haruno chuckled. Then she put the qipao and the second change of clothes back into the seal and quickly changed into the black training garb.

“Hn.”

Haruno knew what his problem was. He was stressed, his body hurt like a bitch, and above all he was angry. Angry at Orochimaru for forcing a decision on him, angry at his brother for killing his family and he was angry at her, for keeping her skills in sealing from him, for annoying him all the time and for lying. Because that's what he figured she'd done. Lie. Lie about her crush, about her abilities, about her intelligence. He was mad that she hadn't given them the backpacks right at the beginning, he was sure that with them they could have won against Orochimaru or at least escaped. He was mad because she was stronger and better than him and he couldn’t figure out why. And he was angry that both her and Naruto, hadn't reacted to the killing intent like a scared little five-year-old. 

“What.”

_ Good, act like you're a remotely normal person, good. _

“Do you have a problem, Sasuke-kun?”

_ Less good, too standoffish, maybe try less aggressive? _

**Hell no. He already made his decision. He´s gonna leave. Might as well give him a good reason.**

_ Ok, what is the real problem here? _

“If you had those backpacks the whole time, why didn't you give them to us sooner?”

Haruno bared her teeth. His whole thought process made her want to punch him, hard. He felt entitled to her supplies, already thinking of that backpack as his and judging her for keeping it from him, as if she was trying to hold him back.

“They're for emergencies, like this one. Earlier when Orochimaru appeared all of a sudden, I might have been able to do something, but you idiot had to confront him right away. But yes, sure, I'll just ask him to hold the fight for a little so I can give you a backpack filled with tools and you can get acquainted with the contents. Are you seriously so stupid?”

_ Ha-chan what is your real problem? It can't be him, he never ticked you off like that before! _

**I couldn't prevent him from leaving, ok?!**

Naruto was staring at them open-mouthed, not quite understanding what was going on, and for once he couldn't find the right words to make them stop fighting. When had Sakura-chan become so fierce, so formidable, and frightening? He was taken aback by the power emanating from her small frame. Never did he think he might burn himself if he got too close but now that feeling was overwhelming.

Sasuke however felt righteous anger. She had hidden her true self from them, like he had suspected. But not only that, it seemed she held nothing but contempt for him, which annoyed him. She was his to play with if he so wished. Though above all, she was stronger and it drove him mad. Unable to vocalize his anger he just turned away.

“Hnn.”

He needed to show her that he was better, and that she meant nothing to him, that she was not important enough for him to care about. He would be out of this shithole of a village in no time.

_ Great kami, how are you going to diffuse this, Ha-chan? It's a mess! _

“Don't be an idiot, take the backpack. We need you on your A-game today unless you wanna lose this shit.”

Haruno tossed him the bag and begrudgingly, he caught it. He wasn't a complete idiot, and able to swallow his pride this time. He didn't want her to suspect his decision, she'd only rat him out.

“Hnn.”

_ Ok that was surprising. What happened? _

**He doesn't want me to know he doesn't give a fuck about this whole exam, that he already decided to join Oro. So, he's playing nice.**

“There are two groups of shinobi heading our way. They're both weakened. One is approaching from North-North-East and the other from North-West-West. We have approximately 45 minutes before they approach since they move rather slowly to escape our notice.”

_ Kabuto is also heading our way. But I think he is just curious whether we still live after that bastard Oro sent Dozu´s team to kill us.  _

**He is neglectable then. Let´s plan this shit.**

Naruto who was now shaking his wake-coma away nodded enthusiastically.

“Shall I place some mines in the ground?”

“No, we need to be moving when they find us, they need to think we're on the run. Let´s go north and meet them, make them think we don't know they're coming. And then we'll crush them. Get ready Naruto,” Sasuke said, already ready to pounce. 

“Just a second, Sasuke-kun. I need to check something, ” she said as she walked over to Naruto and put a hand on his stomach. His seal was still disrupted, as was his chakra flow. 

“What are you doing Sakura-chan?!” Naruto asked nervously trying to hide a blush.

Haruno just closed her eyes and concentrated. She had no time for this puberty-nonsense. 

_ Just wait till our hormones decide otherwise. _

**I'm learning to be a medic nin after this shit-show, I'm gonna stop those nasty hormones!**

_ Good luck with that, sister. _

“I'm checking your chakra-flow. Calm down Naruto.”

While Naruto gulped, she probed the disruption-seal with her chakra and found that she could easily manipulate it to dissolve. She could feel Naruto relax as his chakra flooded back into his body. Then, very carefully she checked the Kyubi´s seal to make sure it was still intact. 

**Everything seems to be fine, although it's a little loose. But that might help in the end. He will be able to use Kurama's chakra.**

_ That's good right? _

**Only if he keeps control. But he is strong-willed so I don't see a problem at the moment.**

“Ok, you're all right now. We can move.”

With that they headed north to meet their opponents.

_______________________________________________________________________

 

They arrived at the tower later that day. The boys were still horribly exhausted and so was Haruno. The only person who couldn't seem to stop thinking was Sakura.

_ So, do you think they'll promote us to chunin after this? _

**I just don't care about what happens here anymore. Everything went to shit when we decided to participate. We might as well just rock this exam. Sasuke has already decided to leave. The exams are not under our control and they never were. We must make the best of it now.**

_ I hate it when your plans don't work. I hate surprises. I hate not being in control. _

**Yeah, me too.**

_ We are lucky though. There is only one casualty so far. Mr. Idiot Mc Jerkface.  _

**But it must be the only one. We have enough time to form a suitable strategy for the rest of the exams. I can't have anyone die because I was careless. So yes. We'll probably become chunin.**

_ Is there nothing we can do to keep safe our useless reputation? _

**I'm afraid there isn't. Unless everybody overlooks us again and thinks we were just lucky I don't see us staying genin. Danzo is probably already on his move.**

_ Kami, I hate his guts. _

**Yeah. Same.**

_ Oh look. There is Hinata. I'm glad that she's here. _

They had been greeted by Kakashi when they arrived and were given their room assignments. There were still 3 more days before the second part of the exams ended and so far, only 6 teams had arrived. But before anything else happened, Haruno had to brief someone important about what happened in the forest, so she just uttered the words: “We had a run in with Orochimaru. Sasuke needs sealing.”

The reaction Kakashi gave her, was everything. His one visible eye widened, his eyebrow vanished behind his hairline and his posture became so stiff she was sure he´d shatter if he fell now.

“Follow me. All three of you.”

**Well this is gonna be fun.**

_ Do you think I'm looking forward to it? _

**Not in the slightest.**

##  ______________________________________________________________

Once again Team 7 stood before Sarutobi and he was not amused. This time they had a run in with his ex-student and barely survived, which only meant that Orochimaru had plans for them. A cold shudder ran over his back. He felt pity for the young genin. If Orochimaru put his mind to it, even Sarutobi himself wouldn't be capable of keeping them safe.

As he listened to Naruto´s retelling of the events, he felt affirmed in his suspicions. Not only had Haruno Sakura become proficient with sealing, no, she had done it without anybody noticing. He marveled at what else she was hiding up her sleeves. If she could be trusted, she would be an asset with a shot at a bright future 

Sarutobi could see the incredulity in Kakashi's eyes. Never had he suspected that Sarutobi could be right about Sakura being capable of more than she let on. He had been so utterly disinterested in her that he didn't want to notice.

“Is there something any of you´d like to add?” he asked them when Naruto was done.

“Yes, Hokage-sama. As it happens Naruto was incapacitated for some of the time so he did not witness everything. It seems that somebody slipped Orochimaru all the participants’ files, so he would be able to find possible new recruits. It also appears that he tried to loosen Naruto's seal. Furthermore, as Naruto already told you, he bit both Sasuke-kun and me. I´ve already sealed it as well as I could, but as it happens I would like a master to look over the curse-mark to make sure everything will be ok.”

Straight to the point. He liked her more and more.

“Anything else?”

“I´d advise you to suspend Sasuke-kun from the exams for his own good, if I didn't know that it is vital to show him off to our allies. Still it would definitely be better for him to be hidden away for the rest of the exams.”

Her stance surprised him, especially when he noticed the deadly look the person in question shot the girl. Wasn´t she infatuated with him? Sarutobi couldn't see a single sign of that.

“I´ll take your advice into account, thank you. Kakashi, would you escort them back to their rooms, and check  the curse seals, will you?”

If it wasn't so serious, Sarutobi would have laughed at how shook Kakashi was about the whole situation.

“Yes, Hokage-sama.” 

__________________________________________________________________________

Two days passed and the exam ended. In the end only 7 teams had passed the second stage. During those two days Sasuke was treated by Kakashi, who was the only person proficient in seals besides Haruno and Jiraiya. He only had a few things to add and change but apart from that he was very impressed with her. 

Satisfied by the shame he felt for willfully ignoring them, Sakura watched him raise his eyebrows in surprise when he saw their daily workout paying close attention this time. 

Minutes after the last team arrived Anko called them all together and looked at them in feigned surprise.

“The exam must be too easy this year, there is too many of you. We´ll have to decimate you. Fortunately we´re prepared. The preliminaries start in five minutes. If you want to give up, feel free to do so by raising your arm. “

Kabuto, who was still there, raised his arm, smiling innocently.

**I fucking hate that guy.**

_ Same. He is so… sooo…. _

**Devious? Insidious? Asshole-ish?**

_ All of that. _

“I'm really tired. I´d like to give up.”

The smirk of dark satisfaction that bloomed on Anko´s face absolutely lightened up their day.

“Ah, Kabuto, how nice of you to call the attention to yourself.”

Suddenly he was restrained by 4 Anbu and pressed to the ground. The two remaining members of his team were already knocked out cold and thrown over an anbu´s shoulder.

“Consider yourself arrested, traitor. Take them away, guys.”

A murmur went through the lines of genin as Kabuto and his team were carted away, without a doubt to be questioned.

“Scram kids, you have only 4 minutes left before we start.”

And with that she sent everyone to the balcony to confer with their senseis before they started.

“Wow I thought he was nice! That's really a bummer Sakura-chan. You know, I thought we could be friends with him.”

“It's ok Naruto. He was probably one of Orochimaru’s spies. You don't need to feel bad for him.”

It was only a short wait before the next proctor called the attention to himself.

“I am Hayate Gekko, your proctor and the first match of the preliminaries will be announced now.”

Behind him a huge screen lit up. For once it was truly random, which was a gambit, but Sarutobi hoped to make Orochimaru’s life harder that way.

“First Match: Tomoki Haroko vs. Temari of Sunagakure. Assume your positions.”

Temari, confident in her own abilities, landed silently on the far side of the arena. She had seen the team from Takigakure and judged them to be no match for her abilities. That was her first mistake. Tomoki's skillset gave him a huge advantage over Temari.  Haruno waited a few moments and moves from both sides to state her prognosis. Temari had taken out her fan and thrown a few wind blasts towards Tomoki but he had countered it with a thick mist, that resisted her wind for about a minute before Temari could dissolve it. When the fog lifted there were 3 Tomoki´s and the ground was flooded with water.

“He'll win.”

“How can you know that Sakura-chan?”

“It's easy Naruto, she has concentrated all her training on her skill with that fan on her back. She is an A-class distance-fighter. But see him? His skills are more varied. He knows at least 4 different water jutsu. And do you see that sparkling in the air? Ninja wire. If she moves too much she´s gonna get cut. And those? Those are just clones – he has morphed into a puddle and is just waiting for her to come too close. If she was more patient, she’d easily outlast him, but she hates waiting. Sooner or later she´s gonna figure out that he is in the water but before that it's gonna be too late. When she´s destroyed the last clones with her fan, he'll already be behind her, kunai at her throat.”

Naruto stared blankly at Haruno. She could see he was beyond impressed. Especially when it happened exactly as she had stated. 

She could feel Kakashi´s and Sasuke´s stare on the back of her head. Slowly but surely Kakashi came to realize that he had misjudged her heavily. 

**Wanna take over for a while?**

_ Yeah. Why not. It's not like anything thrilling is going to happen until it's our turn. _

The next match, Gaara vs. Kiba ended after about 30 seconds. Kiba and Akamaru survived but only barely, thanks to several Konoha jonin. 

After that Kankuro fought Choji and won. Then Naruto fought an Kiri-nin called Mimi. Naruto won by sheer violent force and greater chakra reserves. His tactic was simple but effective : sending an army of shadow clones her way while preparing multiple explosive traps. She was still fuming when they carried her out.

The next match was Hinata against Shikamaru. It was a close thing. 

Even if Hinata had trained with Sakura extensively, Shikamaru was still a genius. He had studied all his fellow Konoha genin before the exams and had worked out plans and tactics to win during that month for every single one of them. So naturally Hinata was at a severe disadvantage. The fact that Sakura and Haruno had her learn a lightning jutsu balanced the scale thanks to the ground which was still covered with water, courtesy of the Taki-nin Tomoki. 

A little, but not enough.

As soon as the battle started Shikamaru jumped back, to get out of Hinata´s range and sent out his shadow. Hinata, anticipating his move, ran off towards the far end of the arena, throwing multiple smoke bombs. After obscuring Shikamaru´s field of vision she created a clone that stood on the wall throwing shuriken at him while she herself prepared her lightning jutsu. To Hinata’s surprise it looked like he fell for the clone, sending a volley of kunai in its direction. She hadn't taken time to activate her byakugan. It was her goal to end the fight as soon as possible.

The jutsu was a simple one, creating a coat of electricity around her body. Nevertheless because of the water, Shikamaru was shocked by a strong surge of lightning he didn't anticipate. He fell to the ground. The whole arena was dead silent.

They could hear him muttering to himself. The shock had not been strong enough.

“Troublesome woman with her troublesome surprise jutsu.”

Hayate Gekko walked over to him. He squatted down next to him and asked: “Do you yield?”

“SHIKAMARU NARA IF YOU YIELD I WILL MAKE YOUR FUCKING ASS SO SORRY, YOU WILL WISH YOUR MISERABLE ASS WAS DEAD!!!!”

“Apparently not.”

The occasional laughter echoed through the arena as Shikamaru rose to his feet, a tinge of panic only evident to the older ninja and Haruno, as he straightened himself and got into a fighting stance. 

Suddenly a gasp went through the ranks as they spotted Hinata when the smoke lifted, in the exactly same fighting stance just a few meters away.

A small smile spread over Shikamaru´s face as he started holding his breath, something he had practiced and forced Hinata to stop breathing too. After that the fight ended. Hinata passed out from breathlessness. Shikamaru ended his jutsu after Hayate declared the fight over. 

“Wow she put up a good fight, but how did Shikamaru know it was a clone?”

This time Kakashi felt like explaining it to Naruto.

“He felt it, most genin are capable of discerning between clones and humans by scanning for chakra presences. And he probably anticipated it. He is a genius after all.”

“Huh.”

“UCHIHA SASUKE VS: MORI AMAYA”

Naruto who was still cross with Sasuke´s behavior in the second round grimaced. It was an easy fight for Sasuke, as if someone had rigged the system. Only this time nobody had as far as Haruno could discern. 

Amaya was a typical Kiri-nin, using needles, mist, and poison, something that Sasuke already fought in his first real mission three months ago. He made quick work of her. 

Lee defeated her teammate Inari shortly after that and then TenTen all but wiped the arena floor with the girl from Takigakure. 

Having no time to waste, Sakura disabled Hayase Manami from Taki with a swift blow to the neck he never saw coming. It was anticlimactic at best. His greatest talent, genjutsu, had no effect on her, and she was way faster through her training with Gai-sensei. She earned more than one irritated look.

**I'm not the only one who kills our cover anymore, hehe** .

_ We already agreed to stop pretending. I'm just rolling with it.  _

**Yeah show-off. You just wanted everyone to know not to try to mess with us.**

_ Perhaps. _

With a graceful jump, that Ino was very envious of, Sakura reclaimed her place next to Naruto who enthusiastically high fived her. It took a little time until Hayate Gekko awakened from his surprise induced stupor and the last match, Ino vs. Neji vs. Shino began. 

Shino and Ino partnered up instantly, but Neji, being one year their senior, was prepared for that. He got rid of Ino first, the one who could potentially penetrate his defense. After that it didn't take long for Shino, after losing most of his hive, to give up. 

Following that Hayate announced the finalists and the first pairs for the first round. Lee would be her first opponent. Then they were ushered to the exit.

There was one month to prepare.

___________________________________________________________________________One month to train.

Kakashi trained with Sasuke. He had arranged for Naruto to train with the sannin Jiraiya. When Sakura asked him who she would train with, he blanked. Her prowess had surprised him. But not enough to think of a teacher for her.

Haruno couldn't believe her eyes when she saw it. He wanted her to be weak so bad he willfully closed his eyes to her abilities. 

_ Why though? Why does he hate us so much? _

**It's not hate. He is scared. We remind him of his old teammate Rin. He wants us to be useless so we won't have to go on seriously dangerous missions. It's not even conscious.**

_ And here I was, thinking he was just an ass. _

**Well you're not completely wrong.**

“So?”

Kakashi was a genius after all so he made use of his brain and listed a few people who could help her stay mediocre. Haruno already had a plan whom she´d ask to train her and predictably none of them overlapped. 

After that she went on her merry way to track down Jiraiya in the red-light district, intending to bully him into giving her a few hints with seals. It was remarkably easy since he had heard about her and his weakness for strong women made him eager to teach her anyway. Jiraiya pointed out that there was a beginning and an end to every seal and that not everything was as it seemed.

“Sometimes you have to look at all the angles. The Uzumaki used to disguise every end and beginning, going so far as to hide them in the middle, making various duds so you couldn't undo it. It's part of the reason their seals were so infamous. If you failed at undoing an Uzumaki seal, there was usually an explosion involved. Which again led to their downfall. I don't think anyone nowadays uses seals that complicated and elaborate – sure there are still remnants and I could probably recreate some of them, but it's just not functional except for maybe my research, hehe.”

“It would be though, if you taught other ninja about it. We could receive sealed messages from our spies and if an enemy tried to steal the info it´d be totally useless to them. Best case, they'd try to open it and explode.”

**He wonders if we're related to Orochimaru. Urgh** .

_ Because we use logic? _

**Because I said “best case they explode”.**

_ Ok that makes sense. _

Jiraiya halted for a second, weighing his options, but in the end he decided on lying. Even if this girl reminded him uncomfortably of a mix between his old teammates or maybe especially for that reason he wouldn't talk about his arrangement with the Third. 

“Do you know anyone beside yourself that studies seals? It's insanely difficult for most people. There are maybe 10 jounin in the entire village that are proficient at seals.”

**Haha. Lie.**

“That seems like a crass negligence on the Hokage´s part.”

“I agree. But nobody listens to an old pervert.”

**Meh. Half true.**

“So I expect you to treat Naruto right. He's softer than he lets on. Those first few years of his life when he was all alone, didn´t pass without effects.”

With that they left without another word, leaving an intrigued yet puzzled Jiraiya in their wake. 

________________________________________________

Sakura had already asked Kurenai to teach her a few genjutsu right after the last match, knowing she´d gladly teach someone genjutsu. Apart from that both of her continued their rigorous training with Gai-sensei and sent another shadow clone to the hospital to observe healing procedures.  Hinata was always with her original, making sure she ate and slept enough. Saying things like “I don't want my roomie to die before the fight even begins”. 

The month passed incredibly fast. They had learned more effectively than ever before.

**I'm so glad we don't have to keep up the useless ruse anymore.**

_ I kinda liked it, you know? _

Haruno had even begun to unravel the scrolls in her possession. It appeared that her ancestors’ scrolls used some sort of encryption cipher that required her to write a password she didn't have, on the paper.

_ We have diaries and un-decoded writings from great-grandpa. Maybe we can find hints in there? _

And so, the rather tedious work had begun halfway through the training month. They had yet to find the password, but they were getting there. 

Listening to Jiraiya´s advice they looked for multiple duds on the Uzumaki scroll and found the beginning of the seal. It took them 6 shadow clones working on it nonstop for 2 weeks.

**This is great! I wanted to unseal this fucking thing since I first held it.**

_ Haruno. Ha-chan. No. You will not unseal this kinjutsu-scroll in the middle of the kami-damned chunin-exams. Just no. Do you want them to take it away from you? To discover our true selves? Hell no. You will wait a little longer. Reason demands it.  _

**Since when are you reason?**

_ Since always. And don't deny it. You know it's true. Now go store some chakra you idiot. _

_________________________

They day of the final test came and Haruno was tired. So very tired. 

**You do it Sa-chan. I´m just too tired. It's not important in the grand scheme of things anyway. I´m going to sleep. Don´t wake me up.**

_ What about Orochimaru? _

**I don´t care. Give him the middle finger for me. I just wanna sleep. I know you can deal with this.**

_ I know you will regret it later, as you always do. But rest assured that I don't blame you. I'll do my best. _

Sakura was used to these little breakdowns from Haruno.  They would occur occasionally. Sometimes it got worse and Haruno refused to deal with anything for weeks, sometimes it got better and she remained strong, confident, and motivated for a month or so, but most of the time Haruno felt empty while looking at the world around her. She couldn't hide it from Sakura, didn't bother. They both knew the reason for it. Sakura thought that a therapist might have helped, but both knew that they could never speak openly to anyone about themselves. Haruno had refused medication of any kind right at the start. She was afraid it would impair their abilities and make them vulnerable, completely ignoring the fact that her state was far more dangerous for them. 

**I don't give a fuck right now. I´m not even sorry about it.**

_ Well at least you're earnest. I'll have it covered. I think. _

The presence of Haruno´s conscious faded then until there was only a tiny speck left. Sakura was on her own. She could do this. Probably. It would be at least another hour until her fight against Lee was up and she had a small glimmer of hope that Haruno might be back by then. Meanwhile she just had to be as observant as she could. All through the first three fights she concentrated on every presence in the room, making sure to monitor their chakra levels as well. It was exhausting and she couldn't feel the presences of most Anbu and some Jonin, but she did her best. So far nothing was in motion as far as she could tell. The fact that Hayate Gekko had been killed made her very uneasy though. She barely registered  Tenten's triumph over Kankuro, that Shikamaru made a total fool of Sasuke with ease, or that Naruto defeated Neji in a poetic act of defiance after Neji had given him a “Give up now, your fate is decided” speech. Nothing mattered but the chakra levels inside the Hokage´s box.

When it was her turn to fight, she jumped into the arena to face Lee. He grinned at her.

“I will do my very best, Sakura-chan, as will you, I'm sure!”

Sakura couldn't suppress a relieved laugh. At least Lee was a chipper as always. She´d beat him. But she was gonna do her best, so they'd  both get out of this fight without regrets.

“Let's make Gai-sensei proud, shall we?”

“Agreed. Let's show everyone the power of youth!”

They both fell into the stance associated with the strong fist and got ready. Sakura could hear Gai-sensei crying tears of youth and joy from the sidelines.

Genma who was now a proctor, must have recognized her from her countless times in the library, since he lifted an eyebrow at the sight of her utilizing strong fist stances. 

“You're both ready? Then let´s go. Start!”

Sakura instantly fell back, created a rock wall and started dodging Lee´s hits like mad. He had been training with Gai for far longer than she and was also only dedicated to taijutsu, which she intended to use to her advantage.

They clashed 5 times while she was preparing her Genjutsu, him landing way more hits than her, but when he entered her reach the 6th time she was done preparing. It wasn't a second too soon. She wouldn't have been able to absorb any more blows. Lee stood still, silent despair in his face as his world and all his friends burned before his eyes. It was easy then for Sakura to shift behind him and pin him to the ground.

“Fight is over. Sakura Haruno wins!”

When she disabled her Genjutsu, Lee cried out in relief. 

“I'm so glad that you're all are not dead! I was so afraid I´d never see you again!”

Sakura pat his back and hugged him.

“I´m sorry I used such a tactic on you Lee! But I couldn't have won if I only concentrated on taijutsu.”

Lee, tears still running down his face, drew back and gave her a dazzling smile with thumbs up.

“No, don't apologize! You and I both did our best, just like we promised. I´m happy for you! You were clearly the smarter one in this battle! I am glad you defeated me, but as compensation I shall train even harder to defeat you one day!”

“I'm sure you will!” She waited in her spot since the next fight would involve her as well but Shikamaru forfeited without even bothering to come down. Sasuke´s face as he realized that Shikamaru didn't expect to win against her was glorious.

They cleared the arena for the next pair.

The battle had barely started when Gaara was done killing Taki´s Tomoki. Gaara laughed as Tomoki´s teammates cried out. He was hardly himself anymore.

Sakura got more anxious by the minute. Gaara was preparing to release Shukaku and as soon as his control slipped, and it would so soon, the invasion would begin. 

Naruto and Tenten's match passed in a blast, Sakura couldn't even say who had won until a  very beatdown Naruto appeared at her side.

“Your turn, Sakura-chan. Good luck,” he mumbled as he patted her back. 

“Thanks.”

She jumped down and took her place. Sakura was hardly able to control her breathing, she was mortified. There was a dangerous glint in Gaara's eyes. 

_ HARUNO FOR FUCKS SAKE, WAKE UP THIS INSTANT! WE´RE IN MORTAL DANGER! _

**No need to scream like that.**

_ Good, you're awake. _

**Unfortunately.**

_ Debatable. Anyways. You think you can use that disruption seal Oro-creep used on Naruto? _

**No.**

_ Oh come ON! _

**I´m not kidding. If I use that seal, Shukaku gets free. Gaara's seal is way more fragile than Naruto´s. If I had some time, I MIGHT be able to think of something.**

_ Then start thinking. I don't know how much time I can buy you. _

“BEGIN!”

Without missing a beat he assaulted them with his sand. It came from every direction and Sakura jumped. 

She released their weight seals, and dodged his sand, not even trying to hit him. Her goal was buying time.

She was able to stay one step ahead of the sand, but barely. Twice Gaara's sand nearly got to her.

“Stop running!” he screamed, getting tired of her dodging. Suddenly a strong wave of chakra rippled through her.

“Uh oh.” 

In his irritation he had almost lost control. 

“OK. Fine. Then come and get me!” screamed Sakura while charging directly at him. He saw her coming and his sand formed a defensive wall, which she used to catapult herself into the air. She formed the seals as she flew and when she reached the highest point of her jump, she spit acid water at him. Slowly it dissolved his sand into muddy muck.

“You'll regret this!”

Sakura knew what he was going to do without the soul seeing eyes. The maniac grin gave Gaara away. He closed his eyes and the sand formed a large orb around him as he ultimately, after all those years, fell asleep again.

Shukaku finally took over and the sand, now everywhere, started to form the beast´s body. In her periphery sight Sakura saw that the invasion had begun.

_ Any minute now would be great! _

**Shut up, I need to concentrate.**

Sakura narrowly dodged a sand-projectile. Or she thought the did, because the next second she felt hot pain blooming in her left side.

She screamed, but it only served to rile Shukaku up even more. He enjoyed himself immensely that bastard.

**I´m ready!**

The pain had mostly been adsorbed by Sakura's mind but Haruno had felt an echo. She was sure their kidney was mush. 

_ I focus on containing pain, you move. _

Sakura did her best, but she already felt delirious, so Haruno spun their body around Shukaku´s projectiles towards him.

“I warned you,” Haruno pressed out just as she thrust her fingers into the monster's stomach. There were screams everywhere around them, but they couldn't hear a single thing. Gaara's eyes became his own again as a wave of  nauseating pain washed over Haruno.

_ Good job. _

**You too** .

They never felt the world go dark, but suddenly it was.

“Sakura-chan.”

The sting in their side became more and more prevalent and finally they awoke. A fast mental check revealed they laid in a bed, hospital probably.

_ How are we still alive? _

**I´d have to open our eyes to know but I don't want to.**

“Sakura!”

The voice sounded more urgent now. Their ears were still ringing so neither of them could really say who it was.

“Forehead for fucks sake wake up already!”

**Aah Ino.**

_ She´s an absolute dear. But maybe we should show them we're still alive? _

**Hopefully they'll up the morphine. It feels like someone is drilling into our kidney** .

_ There is no kidney left to drill in to be honest. At least judging by our chakra flow. _

**Oh for fucks sake…**

Finally Haruno opened their eyes, she was going to ask for the nurse and more morphine but the second Ino spotted they were awake, she hurled herself at her.

“I´m so glad you´re still alive! I don't know what I would have done if you had died. Please, I'm so sorry for being such a bitch, really you can have him, I don't want him anymore if I have to choose between you both.”

“Ouch, Ino my side!”

Ino recoiled from her and gave her a little space.

“I´m sorry.”

Behind Ino, Haruno could see her team, and Hinata who was as still as a mouse.

“Can you turn the wheel on my morphine back a little, my side hurts like a bitch. Thanks. So what happened?”

Kakashi took the lead. Previously he had been hanging in the back of the hospital room but now he couldn't contain his interest any longer.

“What do you remember?”

This was supposed to be an informal interrogation. They (Danzo) hoped she'd be more open with her sensei, so they (Danzo)wouldn't have to resort to other means (torture a young genin who helped save the village).

“Last thing I remember is Gaara changing into Shukaku. He must have lost control. There was fighting on the ranks and I think I managed to disrupt the chakra flow in his body, but I'm not sure. Did it work?”

**Alright it worked. Can you believe they have actually captured him? And nobody knows how to undo my seal so he is still out of sync. I'm a fucking genius.**

_ Is that why it took you so look? You had to encrypt the damn thing? _

**Not a single one of my seals isn't encrypted. I thought you paid attention? How else are you able to open them when you take over?**

_ I just thought every seal was as complicated as yours are. _

“It worked. As to the fighting you saw, there was a joint invasion attempt from Suna and Oto. Orochimaru killed the Hokage. Suna surrendered after it was revealed that Orochimaru had killed the Kazekage. And thanks to your sealing skills we have captured their Jinjuriki.”

_ Your ego is unbelievable. They killed the Hokage but all you focus on is how great your seal worked. _

**I aim to please you.**

“What happens now?”

“You rest. You lost a kidney. Naruto and Jiraiya the toad sage will try to find Tsunade-hime. She might be able to restore you.”

“Thank you, Naruto, Ino, Hinata, I´m glad you're safe.”

Kakashi ignored her quip in his and Sasuke's direction, the later one´s mind had soured visibly, and asked his final question.

“How do you know how to seal a jinjuriki’s chakra?”

Haruno looked him straight in the eyes and smiled  broadly.

“Orochimaru used something like it against Naruto and I had to tweak it since Gaara's seal was much weaker and very unstable. It took me the whole match up until that point to figure out how to not kill him or free the One-tails.

“I see. Congratulations then Sakura-chan. You made chunin.”

_________________________________________________________________________

Even though Naruto was very disappointed not to be appointed a chunin, he could understand that Sakura deserved the promotion. So far she was the only one to get promoted and it was only due to her heroic acts during the invasion. She had single-handedly disabled the second biggest threat.

Sasuke however was cross. Although he couldn't deny that her feat was admirable to say the least, he felt betrayed. She hadn't confided in any of them. She had only pretended to like him. She held nothing but contempt for him. She was stronger than him. They even made her chunin, not him. Her, who came from a lowly merchant family. Her, who had been an annoying fangirl for as long as he could remember. He still struggled to fit the pieces together. It frustrated him, annoyed him to no end. He could feel the rage burning in him. He'd have loved to show her his indignation. That she didn't deserve what they gave her. But he knew almost instantly that she didn't see him as a rival, much less as someone worth fighting.  He could throw all the insults in the world at her but in the end she'd laugh at him and walk away. But he´d show her. Her and that evil brother of his.

Orochimaru had beaten her. Orochimaru could teach him how to beat her. He´d give him the means to kill her and then his brother. Sasuke only had to come willingly.

And so he did.

He went in the middle of that same night, sure that no anbu had been assigned to him yet, not directly after the invasion. They were too busy otherwise. What he didn´t expect was that someone waited for him.

“Sakura?”

“Sasuke.”

“What are y-you? You're not gonna stop me!”

Calmly she stood from the bench she had waited on. “I´m not here to stop you. I´m here to wish you luck. You'll need it if you're actually gonna venture out there, misinformed as you are.”

Sasuke was about to demand an answer as she puffed out of existence. If he hadn't been angry before he sure was now. He wasn't even important enough for her to come herself( He conveniently forgot about her being bedridden).

With new purpose, ignoring her poisonous words, he marched on into the forest. 

Nobody stopped him.

__________________

_ You enjoy being a cryptic fuck, don´t you? _

**Hell yeah.**

_ So what is he gonna do now? _

**Fuck himself up. Orochimaru´s gonna groom him to be his next vessel. If he wasn't such an ass I'd feel bad for him.**

_ You're unbelievable. _

**It's his own decision, hence his own fault. Let me have my fun with a deserter will you?**

_ When are we going to alarm the others? _

**Kakashi will find out soon enough. We'll do nothing. Except maybe start studying medicine.**

_ Kami no. Let us rest just once? _

**No rest for the wicked.**


End file.
